Packaging device and trash box

ABSTRACT

The present invention automatically and continuously packs women&#39;s sanitary products, paper diapers, and the like in a sealed manner and is installed in toilets of hotels, public toilets, and the like used by general public.  
     When a trash is put in, film pull-out rollers ( 50 ), ( 60 ) are rotated by a motor ( 70 ) and films ( 31 ), ( 41 ) are pulled out from film feed rollers ( 30 ), ( 40 ). When passing between film pull-out rollers ( 50 ), ( 60 ), the trash is sealingly packed between the two films ( 31 ), ( 41 ). Therefore, since the trash can be automatically packed in a sealed manner and a clean state is maintained, the present invention is suitable for installation in toilets of hotels, public toilets, and the like used by general public.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an art of a packaging device and atrash box using the packaging device.

BACKGROUND ART

A trash box described in, for example, a non-patent document 1 works ina mechanism such that a cylindrical bag is held in a cassette in thetrash box, trashes are pushed down by a hand to a position lower than anarrangement position of a heater, and a lever disposed outside the trashbox is manually operated so that the heater melts the bag by its heat,thereby sealingly packing the trashes such as paper diapers and sanitaryproducts one by one separately. Such a trash box has advantages thatthere is little smell leakage and the trashes in the trash box can befinally disposed of in a sanitary manner since the trashes are sealinglypacked one by one.

[Non-patent Document 1] http://www.greenlife-web.co.jp, home page ofGreen Life, “ELECTRICAL SMELL SEAL-IN TRASH BOX”

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.2000-247401

[Patent Document 2] Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2586224

[Patent Document 3] Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2586215

[Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent No. 2543562

[Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent No. 3287929

[Patent Document 6] Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. Hei3-9302

However, the trash box described in the non-patent document 1 has thefollowing problem. Firstly, in order for the trash to be sealinglypacked in the bag, the trash has to be pushed down by a hand to theposition lower than the arrangement position of the heater, which istroublesome. In addition, manual work of operating the lever disposedoutside the trash box is necessary for packing the trashes one by oneafter the trashes are pushed down by a hand, which needs a lot oftrouble. Naturally, with the increase in amount of the trashes, a workvolume accordingly increases, which cannot be said to be efficient.

Further, for home use, a user does not feel it unsanitary to push thetrash and manually operate the lever as described above, but if thetrash box is installed in toilets of hotels, public toilets of stations,and the like, it is highly possible that a user gets an unsanitaryfeeling and avoids these works. Therefore, the trash box described aboveis not suited for public toilets and the like used by general public.

Further, the patent documents 1 to 5 disclose arts in which a filmformed in a cylindrical shape in advance is used and each trash issealingly packed by twisting film portions positioned between adjacenttrashes. However, similarly to that in the non-patent document 1, thesetrash boxes also require the work of pushing down trashes one by one,which is troublesome.

On the other hand, the patent document 6 discloses a sanitary containerin which a trash is put between films fed from film feed rollers facingeach other and operation sticks are used to bring the films into closecontact with each other in portions ahead of and behind the trash.However, the patent document 6 does not disclose any means for bringingside edges of the films into close contact with each other. The twooperation sticks disclosed in the patent document 6 cannot bring theside edges of the two films facing each other into close contact witheach other while sandwiching a trash. In order to prevent smell leakage,trash boxes of this type use films for sealingly packing trashes, butthat disclosed in the patent document 6 cannot prevent the smellleakage.

Moreover, in all of the non-patent document 1 and the patent documents 1to 5, the trash is sealingly packed only by bringing the film portionspositioned around the trash into close contact with each other, so thatair remains between the trash and the films when the trash is stored inthe trash storage part. If the air remains therebetween, an amount oftrashes stored in the trash storage part accordingly reduces, whichposes a problem in terms of efficiency of a trash storage amount andincreases maintenance frequency.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, andits object is to provide a packaging device and a trash box using thepackaging device which is not only capable of disposing of women'ssanitary products and paper diapers in a sealed manner but also capableof sealingly packing them automatically, and which includes a deaerationfunction of bringing films into close contact with a surface of anobject for disposal, so that even though the object for disposal ispacked by the film, a storage amount of the objects for disposal is notreduced, compared with a case where the object for disposal does notundergo packing processing by a film, and more particularly, which issuitable for installation in toilets of hotels and public toilets ofparks, stations, and the like used by general public.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In order to attain the objects stated above, the present inventionaccording to claim 1 provides a packaging device including two film feedrollers rotatably arranged in parallel and a predetermined intervalapart from each other, and including:

two film pull-out rollers which rotate to pull out films from therespective film feed rollers and are arranged in parallel withcircumferential surfaces being in contact with each other via the pulledfilms in a normal state; and

a driving part rotating the film pull-out rollers,

wherein an object for disposal is received between the film feedrollers, the driving part rotates the film pull-out rollers, and theobject for disposal passes between the film pull-out rollers, therebyallowing the object for disposal to be sealingly packed between thefilms, and

wherein at least one of the film pull-out rollers includes acircumferential surface that is elastically deformed by the object fordisposal when the object for disposal passes between the film pull-outrollers, whereby the object for disposal is allowed to be sealinglypacked while the films are into close contact with a surface of theobject for disposal.

The present invention according to claim 2 provides the packaging deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein, when the object for disposal passesbetween the film pull-out rollers, the films come into close contactwith each other in respective side edges positioned on both sides of theobject for disposal and in positions ahead of and behind the object fordisposal in a film moving direction.

The present invention according to claim 3 provides the packaging deviceaccording to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the driving parts are providedin correspondence to the film pull-out rollers respectively, and thefilm pull-out rollers are rotary driven together by the respectivedriving parts.

The present invention according to claim 4 provides the packaging deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein at least the one film pull-out rollerincluding the circumferential surface that elastically deforms inaccordance with the passage of the object for disposal includes spongeor rubber supported by a rotary shaft.

The present invention according to claim 5 provides the packaging deviceaccording to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, in the normal state, thefilm pull-out rollers are biased by an elastic member in approachingdirections, and when a load with a predetermined magnitude or largerworks in a direction so as to make the film pull-out rollers apart fromeach other, at least one of the film pull-out rollers becomes apart fromthe other.

The present invention according to claim 6 provides the packaging deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the film rolled around at least one of thefilm feed rollers is an adhesive film having an adhesive layer formed inat least side edges thereof.

The present invention according to claim 7 provides the packaging deviceaccording to claim 1 or claim 6, wherein the films rolled around therespective film feed rollers are plastic films that come into closecontact with each other by an electrostatic action when the films passbetween the film pull-out rollers.

The present invention according to claim 8 provides the packaging deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the one film pull-out roller includesheater parts which are provided on circumferential surfaces of bothlongitudinal end portions thereof to heat-seal the films passing betweenthe film pull-out rollers.

The present invention according to claim 9 provides the packaging deviceaccording to claim 8, wherein the film pull-out roller further includesa linear heater part which is formed along the longitudinal direction ofthe film pull-out roller and through which the heater parts formed onthe circumferential surfaces of the both longitudinal end portionscommunicate with each other.

The present invention according to claim 10 provides the packagingdevice according to claim 1, including a detecting means for detectingwhether or not the object for disposal is positioned between the pulledfilms in a space between the film feed rollers and the film pull-outrollers, wherein, when detecting the object for disposal, the detectingmeans outputs a driving signal to the driving part rotating the filmpull-out rollers.

The present invention according to claim 11 provides the packagingdevice according to any one of claims 1 to 10, being disposed on anupper side of a trash storage part, wherein a trash as the object fordisposal passes between the film pull-out rollers, thereby allowing thetrash to be sealingly packed between the films and to be stored in thetrash storage part.

The present invention according to claim 12 provides a trash boxincluding a trash storage part storing a trash, wherein the packagingdevice according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is disposed on an upperside of the trash storage part, whereby the trash as an object fordisposal which is put in from an inlet provided in the packaging deviceis allowed to be sealingly packed between the films and to be stored inthe trash storage part.

The present invention according to claim 13 provides the trash boxaccording to claim 12, wherein a width of the trash storage part along alongitudinal direction of the film feed rollers is substantially equalto a width of the films fed from the film feed rollers.

The present invention according to claim 14 provides the trash boxaccording to claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the packaging device and thetrash storage part are provided in plurality.

The present invention according to claim 15 provides the trash boxaccording to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the packaging devicehas a plurality of inlets, and the film feed rollers and the filmpull-out rollers are provided in correspondence to each of the inlets.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is structured such that the two films are pulledout from the two film feed rollers by the rotation of the film pull-outrollers and the object for disposal is sealingly packed between the twofilms. Therefore, it is possible to continuously pack the object fordisposal in the sealed manner by utilizing films with a predeterminedlength, which is suitable for sealingly packing a large number of theobjects for disposal. In addition, the circumferential surface of atleast one of the film pull-out rollers elastically deforms when theobject for disposal passes therebetween. Therefore, even though the twofilm pull-out rollers are disposed in parallel with the circumferentialsurfaces thereof being in contact with each other via the pulled filmsin the normal state, the object for disposal is allowed to pass betweenthe two film pull-out rollers, which ensures that portions around theobject for disposal are in close contact therewith and can prevent smellleakage to the outside, and therefore, the packaging device of thepresent invention is suitable for application to the trash box. Inparticular, trashes which are put in can be automatically andcontinuously packed in a sealed manner only by rotary driving the filmpull-out rollers, which gives a sanitary feeling (a clean image) to auser and thus the trash box is suitable for installation in toilets ofhotels, public toilets, and the like used by general public.

Further, since at least one of the film pull-out rollers elasticallydeforms when the object for disposal passes therebetween, it is possibleto press the film against the surface of the object for disposal by itselasticity to compress the object for disposal, which enables thedeaeration of the air between the films simultaneously with thesealingly packing, so that air mixture can be reduced and the size ofthe trash can be made small. Therefore, when the object for disposal isstored in the trash storage part, a reduction in a storage amountascribable to the air is prevented.

Moreover, if the driving parts are coupled to the respective filmpull-out rollers to rotary drive both of the rollers, their forces ofpulling the object for disposal can be increased, which can ensure asmoother rotation operation. Further, owing to the increase in thepulling forces, when a new object for disposal sealingly packed by thefilms is stored, it is pushed against the object for disposal alreadystored in the trash storage part. As a result, even covering the trasheswith the films causes substantially no reduction in the storage amountof the trash storage part, but rather increases storage efficiency.

Further, when the trash storage part is formed such that the width ofthe storage part along the longitudinal direction of the film feedrollers is substantially equal to, namely, equal to or slightly largerthan, the width of the films fed from the film feed rollers, the objectsfor disposal sealingly packed by the films are stored in the trashstorage part in a folded manner, which results in further increasedtrash storage efficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a structure of a packaging deviceaccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the structure of the packaging deviceaccording to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a trash box using the packagingdevice according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view to illustrate a structure of a heater-equipped filmpull-out roller;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a trash box including a plurality of inlets;and

FIG. 6 is a view showing a thin-type trash box in which an inlet isformed in a depth direction.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detailbased on embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a structure of a packaging device10 according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is aside view of the packaging device 10. As shown in these drawings, thepackaging device 10 of this embodiment has a frame member 20, film feedrollers 30, 40, film pull-out rollers 50, 60, and a motor (driving part)70.

The frame member 20 may be any, providing that it can rotatably supportthe film feed rollers 30, 40 and the film pull-out rollers 50, 60, and astructure and a shape thereof are not limited. As shown in FIG. 1, thisembodiment uses the frame member 20 including a front panel part 21, arear panel part 22, and two side panel parts 23, 23 facing each other,and the rollers 30 to 60 rotatably extending between the facing sidepanel parts 23, 23. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, when the packagingdevice 10 of this embodiment is applied to, for example, a trash box,the packaging device 10 is used in such a manner that a lower endopening part 25 thereof is detachably attached on an upper side of atrash storage part 100, with the lower end opening part 25 communicatingwith an upper end opening part 101 of the trash storage part 100. Aninlet 24 is formed at an arbitrary position of the frame member 20, forexample, in an upper surface thereof, and when a trash as an object fordisposal is put in from the inlet 24, it is stored in the trash storagepart 100 through the lower end opening part 25. A formation position anda structure of the inlet 24 are not limited, providing that the objectfor disposal can be sent therefrom to a gap between the film feedrollers 30, 40.

The film feed rollers 30, 40 extend between the side panel parts 23, 23of the frame member 20 as described above, and are arranged in parallelto face each other and a predetermined distance apart from each other,so that the trash as the object for disposal can pass between the facingfilm feed rollers 30, 40. The film feed rollers 30, 40 feed films forsealingly packing the object for disposal put therebetween, and films31, 41 with a predetermined length and a predetermined width are rolledtherearound. The kind and material of the films 31, 41 are not limited,but since they sealingly pack the object for disposal while sandwichingit, they need to have a property of coming into close contact with eachother when their film surfaces facing each other are joined together.

For example, plastic films may be used for realizing mutual closecontact by an electrostatic action, or a film (adhesive film) having anadhesive layer at least on side edges may be used as at least one of thefilms 31, 41, preferably, as both of the films. The use of such anadhesive film can bring the films 31, 41 in closer contact with eachother. In this embodiment, the adhesive films are used as the film 31and the other film 41. Incidentally, providing the adhesive layer on,for example, at least the side edges of one of the films 31, 41 asdescribed above makes it possible to sealingly pack the object fordisposal therebetween. The adhesive layers in a line shape along thewidth direction may be arranged at predetermined intervals in a pullingdirection (movement direction). This makes it possible to bring thefilms 31, 41 into close contact with each other in positions ahead ofand behind the object for disposal in the pulling direction (movementdirection), so that the objects for disposal can be more surely packedin a sealed manner one by one. Note that it is preferable to form theadhesive layer all over at least one of the facing surfaces or both ofthe facing surfaces of the films 31, 41 because the films can be moresurely brought into close contact with the surface of the object fordisposal irrespective of the size of the object for disposal.

The film pull-out rollers 50, 60 extend between the side panel parts 23of the frame member 20 to be substantially parallel to the film feedrollers 30, 40 and to be apart from the film feed rollers 30, 40 in adirection in which the films 31, 41 are desired to be pulled out, thatis, the film pull-out rollers 50, 60 in this embodiment extendsubstantially parallel to the film feed rollers 30, 40, being aparttherefrom in a downward direction. The film pull-out rollers 50, 60 arearranged in parallel to face each other, with circumferential surfacesthereof being in contact with each other via the films 31, 41 passingtherebetween. The film pull-out rollers 50, 60 sandwich the films 31, 41and rotate in inward directions, that is, in the side view in FIG. 2,the film pull-out roller 50 rotates anticlockwise and the other filmpull-out roller 60 rotates clockwise, thereby pulling out the films 31,41 from the film feed rollers 30, 40 to make the films 31, 41 in closecontact with each other.

The film pull-out rollers 50, 60 only need to exert such functions.However, the film pull-out rollers 50, 60 need to absorb the thicknessof the object for disposal passing therebetween since they are arrangedwith the circumferential surfaces thereof being in close contact witheach other in the normal state as described above. Therefore, as atleast one of the film pull-out rollers 50, 60, it is necessary to use aroller whose circumferential surface elastically deforms in accordancewith the passage of the object for disposal. In this embodiment, both ofthe film pull-out rollers 50, 60 are formed such that cylindricalmembers 52, 62 formed of sponge are fitted around rotary shafts 51, 61thereof. Incidentally, as the cylindrical members 52, 62, not only thesponge but also rubber is usable. Such cylindrical members 52, 62elastically deform in accordance with the passage of the object fordisposal such as a trash and thus fit the surface shape of the trash orthe like. Therefore, this elastic deformation makes it possible not onlyto compress the trash or the like to reduce its size, but also toimprove storage efficiency in the trash storage part 100 since it isaccompanied by the deaeration effect reducing an amount of air remainingbetween the films 31, 41.

Between at least one-side ends of the film pull-out rollers 50, 60, aspring (not shown) as an elastic member is hung to bias the both inapproaching directions in the normal state. Therefore, when a load witha predetermined magnitude or larger works in a direction so as to makethe film pull-out rollers 50, 60 apart from each other, for example,when a trash with a prescribed volume or larger is put in or when alarge artificial force is applied, the both rollers 50, 60 become apartfrom each other, which can prevent overload to the motor 70 to reduceits trouble.

The motor 70 is disposed in a gap between the front panel part 21 andthe other film pull-out roller 60 in the frame member 20. A driving belt71 is hung between a rotation output part such as an output shaft, agear, and the like of the motor 70 and the rotary shaft 61 of the otherfilm pull-out roller 60, so that power of the motor 70 is transmitted tothe other film pull-out roller 60. It should be noted that thearrangement position of the motor 70 is not limited, but the motor 70may be disposed in a vacant space in the frame member 20. Further,depending on the arrangement position of the motor 70, the rotationoutput part of the motor 70 may be directly coupled to either of thefilm pull-out rollers 50, 60, not via the driving belt 71. A powersource of the motor 70 may be any, and in this embodiment, a battery 80is used. Incidentally, as the power source for driving the motor 70,power may be supplied from an outlet. However, the use of the battery 80as the power source of the motor 70 allows the packaging device 10 to beused cordless when there is no outlet around its installation place andmakes the packaging device 10 easy to carry.

Further, in FIG. 1, the motor 70 as the driving part is coupled only tothe rotary shaft 61 of the other film pull-out roller 60, but it ispreferable that another not-shown motor is provided to be coupled to therotary shaft 51 of the film pull-out roller 50 so that the two filmpull-out rollers 50, 60 are rotary driven in the inward directions bythe two motors (driving parts) respectively. As a result, forces to pullout the films 31, 41 become stronger, so that the object for disposalcan be more surely carried to the space between the film pull-outrollers 50, 60. Further, owing to the increased pulling forces, when anobject for disposal newly sealingly packed between the films 31, 41 ismoved out from the gap between the rollers 50, 60, it is stored in thetrash storage part 100 so as to be pressed against the object fordisposal already stored in the trash storage part 100. Therefore,storage efficiency of the trash storage part 100 can be furtherenhanced.

A driving switch of the motor 70 may be any, and in this embodiment, adetecting means 81 such as an optical sensor is provided on the sidepanel part 24. The detecting means 81 detects whether or not the trashas the object for disposal has passed between the film feed rollers 30,40 to be positioned between the films 31, 41. When detecting the trash,the detecting means 81 outputs to the motor 70 a driving signal, whichcauses the film pull-out rollers 50, 60 to rotate. Further, as thedetecting means, also usable is a weight sensor detecting whether or notthe trash is placed on the film pull-out rollers 50, 60. By thus usingthe detecting means 81 such as an optical sensor, a user only needs toput the trash in and then the trash can be automatically disposed of,but another possible structure may be to provide a switch such as a pushbutton and to operate the switch to drive the motor 70.

Next, an operation of the packaging device 10 according to thisembodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, when the packagingdevice 10 is applied to a trash box 110, it is placed on the trashstorage part 100 with, for example, the lower end opening part 25 of theframe member 20 communicating with the upper end opening part 101 of thetrash storage part 100. As initial setting, leading end portions of thefilms 31, 41 of the film feed rollers 30, 40 are interposed between thefilm pull-out rollers 50, 60 in advance.

When a trash is put in from the inlet 24 of the packaging device 10, thedetecting means 81 such as an optical sensor detects the trash to outputthe driving signal to the motor 70. Upon receiving the driving signal,the motor 70 starts rotating. Then, the rotation of the motor 70 istransmitted from the driving belt 71 to the other film pull-out roller60, which starts rotating together with the film pull-out roller 50 thatis in contact therewith.

First, the leading end portions of the films 31, 41 are made in closecontact with each other by the two film pull-out rollers 50, 60 to jointogether. The films 31, 41 are joined together in side edges thereofwhen passing between the film pull-out rollers 50. 60. In the meanwhile,the trash which is put in passes between the film pull-out rollers 50,60, and at the time of this passage, since the cylindrical members 52,62 of the film pull-out rollers 50, 60 elastically deform along theshape of the trash and press the trash while absorbing the thickness ofthe trash, the films 31, 41 are made in close contact with the periphery(surface) of the trash along with the deaeration. When the film pull-outrollers 50, 60 make one rotation or a predetermined times of therotations to send the trash under the film pull-out rollers 50, 60, thefilms 31, 41 are directly joined together again by the film pull-outrollers 50, 60, owing to, for example, an electrostatic action or theadhesive layer.

As a result, the trash is stored in the storage part 100 while beingsealingly packed by the films 31, 41. When a trash is put in again, theabove-described operations are repeated, so that the trashes aresealingly packed in sequence. Therefore, smell leakage to the outsidecan be prevented. In this case, if the films 31, 41 are brought intoclose contact with each other only in the side edges instead of theleading end portions, smell leakage to the outside is also small sincethe film pull-out rollers 50, 60 are in contact with each other in thenormal state. However, as describe above, it is preferable thatpositions ahead of and behind the trash in the movement direction arealso in close contact with each other. Note that the motor 70 is set soas to stop at an instant after a predetermined time passes from, forexample, the time the trash is no longer detected by the detecting means81. Thus, this embodiment is structured such that the films 31, 41having an arbitrary length are used and a trash is sealingly packedwhile the films 31, 41 are being pulled out, which enables automatic andcontinuous packing of trashes in a sealed manner, and therefore, thisembodiment is suitable for installation in toilets and public toiletsused by general public.

Disposal of trashes can be continued until all the films 31, 41 areconsumed, but the films 31, 41 can be cut in the middle according to thestorage amount of the trash storage part 100 for discarding.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to theabove-described embodiment. The above description shows, as an example,the case where the films 31, 41 are brought into close contact with eachother by an electrostatic action or adhesion, but an alternativepossible structure is such that, as shown in FIG. 4, a heater-equippedfilm pull-out roller 200 is used as one of the film pull-out rollers tothereby heat-seal (thermally join) the films 31, 41 with each other. Anexample usable as the heater-equipped film pull-out roller 200 is onethat includes: a rotary shaft 210 which has disk-shaped end wallportions 211, 212 at longitudinal both ends thereof; and a cylindricalmember 220 fitted between the end wall portions 211, 212, and heaterparts 230, 231 made of nichrome wire or the like are also provided oncircumferential surfaces of the end wall portions 211, 212. With thisstructure, the side edges of the film 31, when coming into contact withthe heater parts 230, 231, can be heat-sealed (thermally joined) to theside edges of the other film 41.

Further, preferably, as shown in FIG. 4, a linear heater part 232 isprovided so as to make the heater parts 230, 231 formed at thelongitudinal both ends communicate with each other and so as to face anouter surface from a cut-away portion 221 formed in the cylindricalmember 220. This makes it possible to heat-seal (thermally join) thefilms 31, 41 linearly in a width direction by the linear heater part232. Therefore, with this structure, one rotation of the film pull-outroller 200 can heat-seal (thermally join) the films in positions aheadof and behind the trash in the movement direction. Note that in thedrawing, 240, 241 are ring electrodes and electric current is suppliedto the heater parts 230, 231, 232 via the ring electrodes 240, 241.

Further, as described above, it is preferable that the cylindricalmember 220 is made of sponge, rubber, or the like and itscircumferential surface is elastically deformable. As described in theabove embodiment, it is preferable that the films 31, 41 are broughtinto close contact with each other by the electrostatic action oradhesion because this structure does not require a power source for theheaters and enables lower cost manufacture.

Further, in the form shown in FIG. 3, one set of the packaging device 10having the trash inlet 24 and the trash storage part 100 is used, butthe both may be used in plurality.

Further, when the width of the trash storage part 100 along thelongitudinal direction of the film feed rollers 30, 40 is substantiallyequal to, namely, equal to or slightly larger than, the width of thefilms 31, 41 fed from the film feed rollers 30, 40, side edges of theobject for disposal sealingly packed by the films 31, 41 are restrictedby inner walls of the trash storage part 100 when it is stored in thetrash storage part 100, so that the fluctuation of the storage directionto right or left in the trash storage part 100 can be prevented and thetrashes can be continuously stored in a folded manner. As a result,trash storage efficiency is more enhanced.

Another possible example is such that, as shown in FIG. 5, the trashstorage part 100 is formed to have a lateral width twice as large as thewidth of the object for disposal or larger, the packaging device 10 hastwo inlets 24 arranged in parallel, a partition wall (not shown)partitioning the inside of the trash storage part 100 into two rooms isprovided, and the lateral width of each of the rooms is setsubstantially equal to the width of the films 31, 41, and in this case,the objects for disposal sealingly packed by the films 31, 41 areprevented from being displaced to right or left and thus the storagedirection is stabilized, so that the trashes are stored continuously ina folded manner and storage efficiency is enhanced. A possible structurein this case is such that the film feed roller 30, the film feed roller40, and the film pull-out roller 50, and the film pull-out roller 60 oneeach are provided along the width direction of the packaging device 10,and each of the film feed rollers 30, 40 holds in a longitudinaldirection thereof two films (in a rolled form) corresponding to therespective rooms. However, this structure incurs waste because when atrash as an object for disposal is put in only from one of the inlets24, the film corresponding to the other inlet 24 is also pulled out.Therefore, a preferable structure when the inlets 24 are provided at aplurality of places as shown in FIG. 5 is to provide mechanisms eachincluding the film feed rollers 30, 40 and the film pull-out rollers 50,60 in correspondence to the respective inlets 24, and to operate onlythe rollers 30, 40, 50, 60 corresponding to the inlet 24 from which thetrash is put in.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, the trash storage part 100 is formedin a thin shape whose lateral length is long and whose length in a depthdirection perpendicular to the lateral direction is shorter than thelateral length, the trash inlet 24 is formed to be long in the depthdirection, and the film feed rollers 30, 40 and the film pull-outrollers 50, 60 are arranged so that their longitudinal direction matchesthe depth direction. Further, the length in the depth direction of theinside of the trash storage part 100 is set substantially equal to thewidth of the films fed from the film feed rollers 30, 40. This enablesefficient storage since trashes stored in the trash storage part 100 arerestricted by inner walls of the trash storage part 100 facing eachother in the depth direction and are continuously folded along thelateral direction of the trash storage part 100 as shown by theimaginary line in FIG. 6. In particular, in a case where trashes ofsubstantially the same size are put in, for example, in a case of atrash box (sanitary container) installed in each booth of a toilet forstoring women's sanitary napkins and the like, the size of the trashesput therein is almost fixed, and therefore, thus limiting the size ofthe trash storage part 100 makes it possible to provide a trash boxwhich can maintain its trash storage amount at a predetermined level orhigher in spite of its thin shape, and which is suitably installed in anarrow installation space such as a toilet booth.

The above description shows the example where the packaging device 10 isattached to the trash box and the present invention is suitable forapplication to a trash box, but it should be noted that the presentinvention is also applicable to, for example, automatic packing of foodand the like in a sealed manner.

1. A packaging device comprising two film feed rollers rotatablyarranged in parallel and a predetermined interval apart from each other,and comprising: two film pull-out rollers which rotate to pull out filmsfrom said respective film feed rollers and are arranged in parallel withcircumferential surfaces being in contact with each other via the pulledfilms in a normal state; and a driving part rotating said film pull-outrollers, wherein an object for disposal is received between said filmfeed rollers, said driving part rotates said film pull-out rollers, andthe object for disposal passes between said film pull-out rollers,thereby allowing the object for disposal to be sealingly packed betweenthe films, and wherein at least one of said film pull-out rollersincludes a circumferential surface that is elastically deformed by theobject for disposal when the object for disposal passes between saidfilm pull-out rollers, whereby the object for disposal is allowed to besealingly packed while the films are into close contact with a surfaceof the object for disposal.
 2. The packaging device according to claim1, wherein, when the object for disposal passes between said filmpull-out rollers, the films come into close contact with each other inrespective side edges positioned on both sides of the object fordisposal and in positions ahead of and behind the object for disposal ina film moving direction.
 3. The packaging device according to claim 1,wherein said driving parts are provided in correspondence to said filmpull-out rollers respectively, and said film pull-out rollers are rotarydriven together by said respective driving parts.
 4. The packagingdevice according to claim 1, wherein at least said one film pull-outroller including the circumferential surface that elastically deforms inaccordance with the passage of the object for disposal includes spongeor rubber supported by a rotary shaft.
 5. The packaging device accordingto claim 1, wherein, in the normal state, said film pull-out rollers arebiased by an elastic member in approaching directions, and when a loadwith a predetermined magnitude or larger works in a direction so as tomake said film pull-out rollers apart from each other, at least one ofsaid film pull-out rollers becomes apart from the other.
 6. Thepackaging device according to claim 1, wherein the film rolled around atleast one of said film feed rollers is an adhesive film having anadhesive layer formed in at least side edges thereof.
 7. The packagingdevice according to claim 1, wherein the films rolled around saidrespective film feed rollers are plastic films that come into closecontact with each other by an electrostatic action when the films passbetween said film pull-out rollers.
 8. The packaging device according toclaim 1, wherein said one film pull-out roller includes heater partswhich are provided on circumferential surfaces of both longitudinal endportions thereof to heat-seal the films passing between said filmpull-out rollers.
 9. The packaging device according to claim 8, whereinsaid film pull-out roller further includes a linear heater part which isformed along the longitudinal direction of said film pull-out roller andthrough which the heater parts formed on the circumferential surfaces ofthe both longitudinal end portions communicate with each other.
 10. Thepackaging device according to claim 1, comprising a detecting means fordetecting whether or not the object for disposal is positioned betweenthe pulled films in a space between said film feed rollers and said filmpull-out rollers, wherein, when detecting the object for disposal, saiddetecting means outputs a driving signal to said driving part rotatingsaid film pull-out rollers.
 11. The packaging device according to claim1, being disposed on an upper side of a trash storage part, wherein atrash as the object for disposal passes between said film pull-outrollers, thereby allowing the trash to be sealingly packed between thefilms and to be stored in the trash storage part.
 12. A trash boxcomprising a trash storage part storing a trash, wherein the packagingdevice according to claim 1 is disposed on an upper side of said trashstorage part, whereby the trash as an object for disposal which is putin from an inlet provided in the packaging device is allowed to besealingly packed between the films and to be stored in the trash storagepart.
 13. The trash box according to claim 12, wherein a width of saidtrash storage part along a longitudinal direction of the film feedrollers is substantially equal to a width of the films fed from the filmfeed rollers.
 14. The trash box according to claim 12, wherein saidpackaging device and said trash storage part are provided in plurality.15. The trash box according to claim 12, wherein said packaging devicehas a plurality of inlets, and said film feed rollers and said filmpull-out rollers are provided in correspondence to each of the inlets.